Insulated-wire-saturating machine.



P. A. NEHRING. INSULATED WIRE SATURATING/MAGHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 1911.

1 ,O28,827, Patented June 4, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIo PAUL A. NEHRING, 0F SYCAMORE, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR 'IO NEI-IRING INSULATED WIRE AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, ACORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

INSULATED-WIRE-SATURATING- MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL A. NEHRING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sycamore, in the county of Dekalb and State of Illinois,have invented new and useful Improvements in Insulated-Wire-SaturatingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to insulated wire saturating machines, and hasfor its main object to provide a machine of this class of improved andnovel construction.

Machines of this class are e nployed for the purpose of saturating thewoven covering of insulated wire with a suitable compound to perfect itsinsulating character and to make it proof against water and theinclemencies of the weather.-

In the manufacture of insulated wire, it is customary to weave one ormore layers of fabric around the wire to provide a covering therefor,and thereafter to immerse the covered wire in a tank containing asuitable compound for saturating the covering. In machines of theordinary construction, a rotary drum is employed for dipping orimmersing the wire into the compound con tained in the tank, and inoperation the wire is wound upon the partially immersed drum, until theentire length of the wire is wound thereon. Thereafter the wire isunwound from the drum, passed through a wiper board and rewound upon asuitable reel, 5 after which it may be finished in any suitable manner.It is obvious that with a construction of this kind the initial end ofthe wire is immersed in the compound for a greater length of time thanthe terminal end and therefore the saturation is not even throughout thelength of the wire, which is an objectionable feature. Furthermore, inunwinding the wire from the drum there is always the danger of strippingthe wetcovering from the wire itself as it passes through the wiperboard, because the gradual decreasing diameter of the coil of wire uponthe'drum prevents the wire from passing through the wiper board in astraight line.-

One of the objects of the present inven- Speeification of LettersPatent.

Application filed December 30, 1911.

Serial No. 668,742.

tion is to provide a machine capable of dipping and saturating the wirewithout subjecting the same to the dangers present in the ordinary wiresaturating machine.

Another object is to provide means for effecting an even saturationthroughout the entire length of the wire.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of thisspecification and with all of said objects and advantages in view, thisinvention consists in the several novel features of construction,arrangement and combinations hereinafter set forth and particularlydefined in the claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the drawings furnished herewith,in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a machine embodying thepreferred form of the present invention, part of the wall of the tankbeing broken away to illustrate parts within the same, Fig. 2 is a planof the machine, Fig. 3 is a detail, vertical cross section taken on theline 33 of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a perspective View of one of the strutsthat are employed in the construction of the dipping drum, Fig. 5 is aface View of a Wiper board used in connection with the machine, Fig. (3is a detail, vertical cross section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5, Fig.7 is a face view of a wiper, Fig. 8 is a central, longitudinal sectionthrough a modified form of drum and Fig. 9 is a side elevation of afragment of the modified form of drum illustrated in Fig. 8.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a tank 10, arranged to receive asuitable compound, which, if desired, may be heated by steam coilscontained in the tank in the usual manner. Journaled within the tank isa rotary dipping drum 11, secured upon a shaft 12, located wholly withinthe tank and journaled in journal blocks 13, mounted on supports 14,here shown as comprising two bars resting on the top of the tank andprojecting down toward the middle thereof as shown in Fig. 1. Thesupports 14, are bolted or otherwise secured to the upper edge of thetank, which, as shown, is reinforced by angle irons extending around itsupper edge. Secured to said journal blocks Patented June 4., 1912.

and projecting up therefrom are posts 1 arranged in pairs and acting toform guide- ,ways for the shaft 12.. The blocks 13, are

15, and is thereby guided -to its bearings in. the I 'ournal blocks 13.--Geari ngof some suita le kind'is provided for rotating the drum, andin the form shown, I employ a drive shaft 16, journaledin'boxes 17-,carried by the "tank and a post 18'; sprocketwheels 20,21, are securedupon. the shafts 1-2, 16, respectively, and connected by asprocket chain22. Obviously any other,

' suitable form ofpower transmitting con nections may be em loyed as asubstitute,

for the one shown or rotating the drum,

but'it is preferable to apply the Power di-' rectly to the shaft of thedrum. It is obvious that by placing the supports 14, within the'tank andlocating the driving connections, between the shafts 12, 16, within thetank, the necessity of providing holes in the tank for the shaft toproject through to some form of driving means, and the necessit ofproviding stufling boxes around the sha t at said holes is whollyavoided.

The drum is .of novel construction and as shown in the preferred form,is preferably built of disks 23, spaced apart and secured to the shaft12, in any suitablemanner. EX- tending between the adjacent disks arestruts 24, which are secured to the disks near their peripheries andarranged circumferentially to form an open drum face. As shown in Fig.4, each strut is provided with transversely projecting lugs 25, 26,having' per-- forations therein, through which bolts or rivets may bepassed to secure the struts to the disks 23. The body of each strut isarranged in an inclined plane with respect to the axis of rotation ofthe drum, so that when the parts are assembled the inclined strutsprovide a tapered openwork drum face, tapering from one disk toward theother and toward the axis of rotation of the drum. The object of thisconstruction is to enable a large or small number of turns of the wireto be wrapped around the drum face without the danger of the wireclimbing up over the flanges at either end of the drum face, thetendency of the Wire being to slide down the inclined face as theincomingwire is wound thereon. It is obvious that the drum may be madeup with as many drum sectionslike the one described as is desired, inorder to obtain the capacity required for the machine. I have showncertain of the disks as secured to the shaft 12, by means of hubs 27riveted or otherwise secured to the disks and keyed or set-screwed tothe shaft.

On the intake side of the tank is secured a bar 28, having uides 29, forthe incoming wire, which gui es may comprise eye bolts or other likewire guidin means for directing the passage of the wires to the faces ofthe drum. On the take-ofi' side of the tank is secured .a wiper board30, having L sha ed slots 31, therein, through which the wlres pass fromthe drum to the take-u or rewindlng mechanlsm' (not showni Said wiperboard 15 shown as fastened to the up per ends of the supports 14, byflanges 32,

and its lower edge is curled upward to pro vide a trough 33, forcatching the drippmgs or other materials that may be stripped from thewire. Holes are formed in the bottom of'the trough for the escape of anyliquid substance. The L shaped slots 31, are preferably curled outwardto present round edges as shown in Fig. 6, thereby eliminating anydanger of the edges of said slots tearing the wet covering on the wire,as it passes through the slot. The guides 29, and

"slots of the wiper board are arranged in a line, tangent with the drumfaces, and faces of the reels.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 8 and 9, I employ a hollow drum,which as shown, may be constructed of side plates 23 secured upon theshaft and having stufling boxes around the shaft, as shown. Acylindrical wall 23", is secured to the outer edges of the side walls23, and around said cylindrical wall 23", are a plurality of hoops 23,spaced therefrom and secured thereto in any suitable manner.Circumferentially arranged around said hoop 23, are a number of drumface members 23, having inclined edges 23, and radially projecting arms23, the outer ends of which are connected by hoops 23*. The inclinedfaces 23, form tapering drum faces of open construction, as in thepreferred form, and the lugs 23, and hoops 23 form the side flanges ofeach section.

In the operation of the machine, the tank is filled or partially filledwith a suitable compound and the initial ends of a number of wiresthreaded through the guides 29, and wrapped around the tapered faces ofthe drums, the number of wraps depending upon the length of time that itis desired to maintain each foot of the wire in the compound. Theinitial end. is then passed through the L shaped slots and carried tothe re-winding reels. A wiper 35,- (see Fig. 7 preferably comprising apiece of leather or the like, having a central apertureand a slitrunning to the edge, is placed over each wire as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,immediately in front of the wiper board. The wiper removes any surpluscompound adhering to the surface of the wire covering. Power beingapplied to the drive shaft 16, the dipping drum is rotated, therebyunwinding theinitial ends upon the re-winding reel, but no strain isplaced upon the wire at any point, as the drum unwinds it as rapidly asit is re-wo'und upon the reel. It is to be observed that with thisarrangement of drum and other parts, each section of the wire remainsimmersed in the compound for a predetermined period of time, sothat eachand every portion thereof is saturated evenly, the drum being given theproper speed to permit each strand of the wire to be thoroughlyimpregnated With the compound. By reason of the location of the guides29, and the slots 31, of the wiper board 30, the incoming as well as theoutgoing wires run tangential to the faces of the drum, therebypermitting the wires to pass said wiper board in a straight line, sothat the edges of the slots may not tear, strip or otherwise injure thewet fabric or covering as the wires pass through the slots. When it isunderstood that the covering of said wire has just been saturated with acompound and is in a soft condition upon the wire, any scraping actionof the wiper board upon said covering would have a tendency to tear thecovering from the wire and this frequently happens in machines of theordinary type. However, with an arrangement like that of the presenttype, the wire remains tangentient at all times to the drum face, andthe wire passes through a slot of the wiper board in a straight line,thereby avoiding danger of tearing of the edges of the covering.Inasmuch as the wire may be given a large number of turns around thedrum face, the drum may be revolved quite slowly and therefore in caseany one of the wipers 35, must be removed for some cause or other, itmay be done without stopping the machine, and a new wiper slipped uponthe wire.

One of the particular-advantages of this machine consists in the factthat the operation of the.machine is continuous, the wire being fed inat one side and passing out at the other, continuously, throughout theoperation of saturating the same. Another advantage consists in the factthat the drum may be lifted out of the compound if occasion shouldrequire, without disconnecting the gearing.

I realize that various alterations and modifications of this device arepossible without departing from the spirit ofmy invention, and I do nottherefore desire to limit myself to the exact form of construction shownand described.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a device of the class described-,- a compound containing tank,drum supports therein, a rotary wire dipping drum having a drum shaftlocated wholly within the tank, journal blocks open at their upper endsand mounted upon said supports, and vertical guide bars extending upwardfrom said journal blocks upon either side of the' shaft.

2. In a machine of the class described, a

rotary wire dipping drum, comprising spaced disks secured upon a shaft,and a tapered drum face of open construction between said disks arrangedto receive one or more turns of the wire to be saturated.

3. In a machine of the class described, a rotary wire dipping drumhaving one or more open, tapered drum faces, spaced apart and capable ofreceiving one or more turns of the wire to be saturated, and deliveringeach wire therefrom continuously in a line tangential to the drum face.

4. In a machine of the class described, a rotary wire dipping drumhaving supporting members carried by a shaft, and a plu rality ofcircumferentially arranged struts secured to said supporting members,said struts being angularly disposed with respect to the axis of thedrum and forming a drum face of tapered, open construction.

5. In a machine of the class described, a compound receiving tank, arotary wire dipping drum journaled within said tank, and having one ormore tapering drum faces of open construction, and a wiper board havingone or more slots therein arranged in a plane tangential with respect tosaid drum faces, whereby wires may pass tangentially from the drumthrough said slots of the wiper board.

6. In a machine of the class described, a wiper board having L shapedslots therein, through each of which a dipped wire may be passed, saidwiper-board being of troughlike formation at its lower end whereby itmay receive material removed from I the wires passing through the slots.

7. In a machine of the class described, a compound receiving tank, arotary wire dipping drum journaled therein, and having one or moretapered drum faces of open construction, said drum having a continuousrotation in one direction, and being adapted to receive one or moreturns of the wire to be dipped and from which said wire may be deliveredin a line tangential with respect to the drum faces.

' 8. In a machine of the class described, a compound receiving tank, arotary wire dipping drum journaled therein, and having one or moretapered drum faces of open construction, said drum having a continuousrotation in one direction, and being wire to be dipped and from whichsaid wire county, Illinois, this. 27th day. of-December may extend m atangential line, and a 1911. j f 4 wiper board having slots throughwhich said: wire passes in a. plane tangential with 5 the drum faces.Witnesses:

In witness whereof, I have hereunto ALBERT NEHRING,

signed my name, at Sycamore, Dekalb ALBERT HOFFMAN.

PAUL A. NEIIRINGT

